STAGGER

Stagger is a novel of modern relationships and working-class realism. Dave Martin is a vulnerable stonemason still much in need of weekly counselling. To colleagues Scopes, as he’s affectionately known, is a stoic friend. Living in his dead mother’s neglected flat, Dave’s impending marriage to finacee Linda forces him to ponder love and the meaning of his life. Scargs, an obese Northern rogue; Gerry, a recovering alcoholic; Punch, a family man with a chequered past; and old romantic Ash are the working-class friends that join Dave on his Brighton stag party, the south coast providing each character freedom to shed the monotony of mundane lives and space to escape their problems. An autumnal sun rises over London signals another working week in London, the stag do just a fading memory in a now diluted world.